I have eight tomato plants (5 different heirloom varieties), and they're all doing great except for my two Prue tomato plants. These are a paste tomato variety. They're technically *growing* steadily, that is, they've increased in size, blossomed, and put out more leaves, but the stems and leaves are very weak, as if they have wilted. They continue to grow, but they just look sickly. I thought it might be not enough water, but they're getting plenty, and they don't seem to change no matter how much water I give them. Also, they haven't yet set fruit, while all my others have. I did have to transplant these from one location in the ground to another after I realized that they were not receiving enough sun at their first location, but it's been a couple months now since then, and they were quite small at the time of transplant. I did my best not to damage the roots during transplant, but could this still be the cause? Anyone have this problem before?
I wouldn't think that that the transplant would still be affecting them after a couple months. If the roots were damaged, my guess is that by this time they would have either recovered or died. Have you grown this variety before? There are so many variables to take into consideration...It's curious though that only that one variety is doing poorly. I have in the past experienced the same thing when I tried one or two new varieties and they just did'nt do good. Perhaps the variety that is doing poorly has some "genetically ingrained instinct" that precludes it from flourishing in your area? Hope something comes to light, wish I had some real good answer.
You may be right, monkeydog - might have something to do with the variety. I've never grown these before, and the two affected plants are not even planted next to each other, so it can't be a problem with one particular area of soil. Definitely puzzling. Though the good news is I just spotted two tomatoes forming on one of the plants, so despite the plants' pathetic appearance, looks like I'll still get something out of them. Nothing like the ~15+ tomatoes per plant I have already on the rest of them though.
I have found that the deeper you plant a tomato plant (regardless of variety) the better it will aclimate to its environment .... particularly if it is being transplanted. You see the plant is a thirsty bugger and if you replant it at the same depth as it was before it will stress out while its roots dig deeper of water. Sounds like things are getting better for you though. Tomatoes are amazingly resiliant. This is my first year at growing paste tomatoes and my plants have grown to about 4 feet high and are loaded with fruit. I use an organis fertilizer called ROOTS which can be purchased on-line and I add used coffee grounds to the soil around the plants to keep the soil loose and improve the aeration of the soil. Best of gardening.
